Bush and Schroeder: A Dangerous Alliance!

The Rhein-Main region is in state of emergency, Mainz is a
fortress. A whole section of the city is cordoned off, garages are sealed, sewer
drains are welded shut, exits - are sealed off, highways are off and trains are
stopped, hundreds of thousands of commuters do not know how to get to work, – US
President Bush, the self-proclaimed ‘defender of human rights’ and ‘freedom’ is
coming to visit. And this means the end of freedom; it is the rule of the police
state. So ‘beloved’ and ‘respected’ is this representative of US imperialism
that he had to be concealed like a gangster and had to be driven to his meeting
with Chancellor Schroeder. Together with the peace movement and hundreds of
thousands of people we say:

Not Welcome, Mr. Bush!

It was the Bush regime that, in the name of and in the
service of US imperialism after September 11, 2001, had ordered the war of
aggression against Afghanistan.

It was the Bush regime that, in the name of and in the
service of US imperialism, had ordered the invasion of Iraq.

It was the Bush regime that had shamelessly lied to the world
to justify the invasion of Iraq to the world.

It is the Bush regime that now is occupying Iraq, leading a
war against the Iraqi people and has absolutely no plans to withdraw its troops
from that country.

It is the Bush regime whose war minister Rumsfeld openly
declared that with the invasion of Iraq ‘an insufficient number’ of Sunnis would
be killed (Frankfurter Rundschau, February 5).

It was and is the Bush regime that has imprisoned hundreds of
prisoners in Guantanamo with complete disregard of human rights.

It was and is the Bush regime that had ordered and carried
out the torture of prisoners in Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Now this regime is provoking a war against Syria and Iran.
The scenario is like that of the preparation for the war against Iraq. Even when
Bush calmly declared that a war against Iran was not ‘now’ on the agenda, that
only means that even ‘tomorrow’ it will be on the agenda.

That is the history of the Bush regime, which is managing the
affairs of US imperialism. US imperialism is today the greatest danger to peace.
The wars that it is carrying out and preparing are wars for raw materials, for
markets, for spheres of influence, for a redivision of the world to its
advantage against its imperialist rivals. And one of the chief rivals of US
imperialism is German imperialism.

Strengthened Cooperation’

The federal government [of Germany] has declared that it is
expecting ‘increased cooperation’ between Germany and the USA to come out of
Bush’s visit. In this connection it has already offered to increase German
occupation troops in Afghanistan. It has already declared its readiness to take
part more fully in the training of Iraqi ‘security forces.’ Thereby it is
continuing the support that that it already provided to US imperialism the whole
time by allowing US imperialism to use its strong points and military bases in
Germany – such as the airport in Frankfurt on the Main – as a logistical base
for the war in Iraq. From the increased cooperation with US imperialism the
federal expects an increased share in the plunder of Afghanistan and Iraq. The
offer of the increased cooperation is at the same time a challenge to US
imperialism.

Schroeder proclaimed this challenge in a speech to the
so-called security conference in Munich. ‘Germany,’ he said, ‘sees itself today
in the European alliance as sharing responsibility for international stability
and order. And we Germans demonstrate our responsibility through active
engagement in numerous regions of crisis in the world…. But with this shared
responsibility also comes shared participation.’

NATO, declared Schroeder, ‘is no longer the primary sphere in
which the transatlantic partners consult and coordinate their strategic
conceptions. The same goes for the dialogue between the European Union and the
United States, which in its current form corresponds neither to the growing
importance of the Union nor to the new requirements of transatlantic
cooperation.’

In plain language this means:

We, German imperialism, are again someone. We will, when it
comes to the redivision of the world, have more to say than before. We want the
cards to be re-shuffled. We do not want US imperialism to go it alone in
invading other countries. In the next war we, German imperialism, want to be
there too.

That is the message of German imperialism to its US rivals
before Bush’s visit.

The meeting between Bush and Schroeder is the meeting of two
imperialist politicians. The disputes that will be there contain within them the
danger of a new war.

Therefore, we are fighting for the immediate and
unconditional withdrawal of all occupation troops from Afghanistan and Iraq!

We demand the withdrawal of all German troops from abroad!

We demand the immediate cessation of any support by the
federal republic for the aggressions of US imperialism!

We are fighting against the rearmament of the German Army!

We say NO to the constitution of the European Union with
its commitment to rearmament and to the leadership of wars of aggression
against other peoples!

We support the just struggle that the Afghani, Iraqi and
Palestinian people are waging for their freedom!

From Roter Morgen, newspaper of the Communist Party of
Germany (KPD)
February 2005